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When living in brain burnout life may seem useless, without purpose and stressful. Many people experience a hard time figuring out a viable exit.
If this is your case, don’t feel hopeless! There are plenty of methods you can employ to prevent or get out of brain burnout.
Read the recommendations below. Don’t try all at the same time. Focus on THE ONE that resonate best for you and take action! Small but consistent steps, that is the key.
Self-care
Self-care is at the core of preventing burnout. More often than not, those who experience burnout are sorely lacking in this area, as they neglect their needs and do not manage their stress.
Self-care is the cornerstone of preventing burnout
- Have a mindful and deliberate stress management plan
- Putting yourself first
- Understand what your needs are
- Ask for help
Moreover, for anyone in a care-taking profession it is vital to strike a balance between self-care and care giving. The majority of your workday is focused on caring for others, and it can be rewarding. However, if you do not take time to talk about your frustrations and enjoy time for you, you are inviting burnout. Especially if you also provide care in your time off.
Physical Health
You have to get a good night’s sleep, exercise regularly, and eat healthy. When your burden increases, the first thing that happens is you lose sleep. Poor sleep leads to poor diet, resulting in a lack of motivation to exercise. When your physical body is not well taken care of, it becomes ineffective at handling a busy lifestyle, and this is when stress becomes more of a burden and leads to extreme fatigue and mental exhaustion.
Your body needs good sleep for energy and to keep all internal processes running at their best, and this helps protect you in many ways from the debilitating effects of stress that leads to burnout.
It will be the last thing on your mind when you experience a burnout, but it’s vital that you aim to get 20 minutes of physical activity in every day, it’s one of the best preventive measures. Regular exercise supplies oxygen to the brain promotes healthy energy and is a key stress management tool.
Burnout will have you craving sugary and high fat foods; however, this will just make matters worse. Ensure you are eating a balanced diet, with plenty of Omega-3 to boost your mood. You are likely consuming too much alcohol as a way of coping, cut back and avoid smoking, too. Just as your body needs sleep, good food supports healthy energy levels and supports the body in fighting off the detrimental effects of stress that leads to burnout.
Knowing And Setting Your Limits
Unfortunately, a burnout will not just disappear on its own; it will only get worse until you address the issues that are creating the problem. Ignore it at your own peril. The process of recovery is slow, and you will need both space and time to recover, so don’t feel that you need to rush through the recovery process.
Part of the recovery process is knowing and setting your limits. There are a variety of strategies that you can employ, and some will work for you, while others won’t. Everyone reacts differently to these strategies, however, there is something that will work for you.
The Why – How can you set your limits if you have not taken time to identify the cause of the burnout.
It may be obvious in some situations, or it may require some serious introspection. Start with any resentments that you are feeling about work.
For instance, Sally manages a large team worldwide, so her workday begins at 5 in the morning. This doesn’t bother her because she loves her job and respects her team. However, she often resents her boss asking her to stay late, because her boss forgets that her day starts so early. This results in longer work ours and Sally missing out on key time with her loved ones.
For Sally, her burnout wasn’t the result of a hatred of her job, but rather missing out on time with her family. So, consider the negative feelings you have to get to the root of the issue. Once you have identified the root cause of the burnout, write down a way to eliminate or manage that source. You can also keep a stress diary to note down what has resulted in stress. This can be a great learning method to find the cause of your stress and burnout.
The solution for Sally was simple, she needed to sit down with her boss to talk about her working hours to remind her boss that her 5am start prevented her from staying late, as it had a serious impact on her family time. For you, it may be an issue with workload and the need to delegate responsibilities. Or a lack of reward.
It’s vital that you know and understand what puts you over the edge, in order to set your limits.
Consider These Actions
- Identify your limits and boundaries
- Set your limits
- Respect your limits
- Get tuned into and start listening to your inner compass, it tells you exactly what is wrong or right for you
- Stop people pleasing
- Compassionate self-care – if you want to show compassion to others, you first need to show yourself compassion
Valued
A heavy workload without proper compensation is going to contribute to a burnout. If this describes you, you have to stand up for yourself. If you are being piled on with work you need to find a way to say no, or to delegate. In some cases, it may be time to find a new job, especially if your values are mismatched.
Take Time Out
It’s vital that you take time away from your job. At the very least, you must take two weeks of vacation (one week, twice) and during this time, you should not keep contact with work. It is also important to take one day a week to just relax and enjoy life. Whether you love to garden, barbecue, or play sports. Time outs are also important on a day-to-day basis, which means taking breaks and especially during high stress days.
Group
Joining a group can be helpful, provided you are taking part in something that you enjoy. A key contributor to a burnout is a lack of community. If you cannot find a group that fits, start your own.
Invest
Whether it is a partner, your friends or children, you should invest time in your loved ones. It is also important to foster relationships with coworkers, as this can buffer stress that leads to burnout.
Having healthy relationships with coworkers is an important consideration in the workplace, as strife leads to undue stress that can easily contribute to burnout in the long-run. Rather than spending your breaks on the phone, engage with your colleagues.
Efficient Mindset
Stay organized in your work and personal life
- Lists
- Calendars
Avoid clutter at your workspace and in your home, as clutter is havoc that only adds to stress. Clutter is interpreted in the mind as a lack of control, and also leads to not being able to find things you need, which is frustrating and contributes to stress.
Adopt a positive mental attitude, as positive thinking is key in healthy stress management and avoiding burnout.
- Avoid negative thoughts and negativity
- Turn negative thoughts to positive
- Look for the silver lining
- Keep an optimistic attitude
Expect the Unexpected
When you are met with the unexpected, are not upset or stressed, instead you should learn how to roll with the punches. There will always be something, whether it is a computer crash, your child getting sick, or being caught in traffic at the worst possible time. You should always expect the unexpected. Don’t let it throw you off, learn to adjust your plans. Remember, there are times where a balance is impossible. You may be met with a crisis (career, family, or personal) that needs your full attention. Simply do what it takes to deal with it, and when things return to normal, take time out for some self-care.
- Practice and master the art of “rolling with the punches”
- Learn to handle uncertainty, adversity, and unforeseen events
- Adjust your plans as needed
- Don’t dwell on what you cannot control, focus on what you can control
Learning To Say No Can Set You Free
Some people find it extremely difficult to say no or set boundaries with others. For workaholics and people pleasers it can be challenging. What we have grown accustomed to is reading articles, books and more about how powerful yes is, or just saying yes to everything.
Yes, yes can be a good thing, however, it is just as important to learn when and how to say no. If you say yes to everyone and everything then you are going to be left feeling overwhelmed, stressed, and eventually experiencing burnout. The majority of people like to please others, and want to be liked, making it difficult to say no to requests. There are three tips, however, that will help you set healthy boundaries.
- Get Tuned In – Everyone has an inner compass, a sense of wisdom that indicates when something is a no, or a yes. The problems arise when we argue with that inner compass. If you’ve been ignoring it for a while, it’s important that you start listening now. You know when something feels wrong, or is too much for you- start following the voice.
- Tolerate Reactions – The fact of the matter is setting boundaries invites an emotional reaction. When you start to say no, people will get disappointed, or even angry. You cannot allow that to put you off, because in the long run it will improve relationships. If you don’t respect your boundaries, it will lead to resentment. However, if you stay the course, people will respect you and your boundaries.
- Compassionate Self-Care – If you want to show compassion to others, you first need to show yourself compassion. If your job is in care giving, then start by giving yourself the same level of kindness that you do to others. Regardless of your job, you need to set time aside every week to indulge in some self-care. Pick something that is pleasurable and relaxing for you, no matter what it is.
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